United States History

Offered with both a survey section and an honors section, this course provides a broad overview of the history of the United States from the American Revolution until the present. Utilizing a variety of materials, including primary and secondary texts, films, artwork, audio recordings and others, this course encourages students to consider the many ideas and forces that have shaped the political, social, economic and intellectual histories of America for more than 500 years. Particular attention is given to issues of identity throughout this history. What does it mean to be an American? Who gets to be called an American? How have these definitions changed over the years? This course also challenges students to further develop their skills in critical thinking, analytical reading and writing and effective research and thesis development. This course is required for graduation.

The Honors section of this course requires a higher level of reading, writing, and critical thinking than the regular U.S. history survey class. Besides using a narrative text for historical investigation, students will also read novels and non-fiction texts for in-depth study of course core issue.